The Cabrini men’s lacrosse team continued its dominance over CSAC opponents with a 19-1 beat down of the Shenandoah University Hornets at Sprint Field on Saturday, March 26.
With the win, No. 17 Cabrini extended the longest conference winning streak in the nation to 78 games. Including the postseason, Cabrini has won 97 straight games dating back to the 2001 season.
The win leaves Cabrini with a record of 4-3 and a 1-0 record in conference play while the Hornets have yet to win a game, as they drop to 0-8 on the season. Cabrini is tied with Immaculata University for first place in the CSAC conference while Shenandoah remains in the cellar.
Cabrini dominated in every aspect of the game.
The Cavs came roaring out of the gate to begin the game and never looked back. They scored the first four goals of the game before Shenandoah senior attackman Mac Hedrick scored the lone goal for the Hornets.
The Cavaliers closed out the game going on a 15-0 run.
Cabrini was able to spread the wealth on offense in a convincing manner. They out-shot Shenandoah 46-12 for the afternoon and saw 16 players notch at least one point.
“Being that it was our first conference game of the year we knew we had to come out and show the league who we are,” Bryan Churchey, senior midfielder, said. “We wanted to make a statement against them and 19-1 is a pretty big statement win to open our conference.”
Senior attackman Paul Skulski and junior attackman Brian Hill led the way for the Cavaliers offense; scoring three goals each. Skulski and Hill scored the first two goals of the game, which were unassisted. Skulski would later add an assist on junior midfielder Joe Arrell’s goal in the 3rd period.
Senior midfielder Dan Terenick, sophomore midfielder Jeff Crosby and freshman attackman Matt Biegel also had nice days offensively, each chipping in two goals with Terenick and Biegel both adding an assist.
Sophomore goalkeeper Erick Zarzecki played a very solid game, picking up four saves in his 22nd consecutive start. Zarzecki’s record improved to 4-3. After the first two periods, he was lifted in place of freshman Steve Oppenheimer, who along with sophomore Kevin Gallagher shut out Shenandoah the rest of the way.
“Coach Colfer tells us that these types of games present us with a different type of challenge and that challenge is to stay sharp and stay focused against teams we know we are superior to,” Churchey said. “I was really glad that everyone on our team got to play, that’s the biggest positive of playing some of these CSAC teams everyone on the roster whose worked hard at practice gets a chance to go out there and play.”
Hornets goalkeeper Andrew Fleischmann took the loss, allowing 13 goals and collecting nine saves.
The win also included a few firsts for a few of the Cavs. Senior longstick midfielder Anthony Mazza, freshman midfielder Peter Mantzouris and freshman attackman Ryan Edmond all scored their first career goals. Junior attackman Drew Brady also recorded his first goal in the contest.
Cabrini held a 46-27 advantage in groundballs on the afternoon, with junior defenseman John McSorley leading the charge. McSorley secured seven groundballs, which led the team.
Cabrini also won 12-of-23 face-off attempts. Seniors Mike Gurenlian and Joe Strain led the way in the face-off department. Gueranlian went 4-for-8 and Strain went 3-for-5.
The Cavaliers will have a few days off before returning home to face CSAC rival Neumann University on Wednesday, March 30 at Edith Robb Dixon Field. Game time will be at 3:30 p.m., as the Cavaliers will look to extend their CSAC winning streak to 98 games.
